Shohei Ohtani Advances to Coach-Pitch Batting Practice

Shohei Ohtani has taken another meaningful step toward returning to the Dodgers’ lineup.

Ohtani completed coach-pitch batting practice Friday, advancing beyond the tee work he began earlier in the week while recovering from injuries to his right biceps and left knee.

“He came out of it well,” Dave Roberts said.

The session represented tangible progress in Ohtani’s hitting program, but he has not yet faced live pitching or the Trajekt pitching machine. Those will be among the next important tests before the Dodgers determine when he is ready to return.

Ohtani is eligible to come off the injured list Wednesday, September 23, but no activation date has been announced.

Ohtani Has Progressed Beyond Tee Work

Ohtani began swinging again Tuesday, hitting off a tee for the first time since the Dodgers shut down his hitting activity and placed him on the 15-day injured list.

He responded well to that initial session and continued building his workload before advancing to pitches thrown by a coach Friday.

Coach-pitch batting practice allows Ohtani to begin working on timing and tracking a moving baseball without immediately exposing him to the velocity and intensity of live pitching.

Roberts described the past several days of Ohtani’s progression as productive and said the four-time MVP is in a good place physically.

That does not mean Ohtani has completed his rehabilitation.

The Dodgers are still waiting for him to progress onto the field and begin facing either live pitchers or the Trajekt machine, which can recreate the velocity, movement and release points of Major League pitchers.

Ohtani has not reached that stage yet.

Live Pitching Remains the Next Major Test

Facing live pitching or the Trajekt machine will provide the Dodgers with a much clearer indication of whether Ohtani is ready for Major League at-bats.

Roberts said he would like Ohtani to receive approximately 10 to 12 at-bats against pitching before returning to the lineup.

Those at-bats would allow Ohtani to test the right biceps under more game-like conditions while rebuilding the pitch recognition and swing timing that cannot be fully replicated through tee work or coach-pitch batting practice.

The Dodgers will also want to see how his body responds afterward.

Ohtani initially landed on the injured list because rest and limited activity had not produced enough improvement. Los Angeles will therefore need to see sustained progress before activating him, rather than basing the decision on one successful batting-practice session.

Friday’s work was encouraging, but it was one step in a continuing process.

Ohtani Can Return as Early as Wednesday

The Dodgers placed Ohtani on the 15-day injured list retroactive to September 8, making Wednesday the earliest date he can be activated.

That would leave him with five regular-season games to regain his timing before the postseason: two at home against the Padres and three on the road against the Giants.

Andrew Friedman and Roberts have both said they expect Ohtani to appear in regular-season games, although neither has established exactly when he will return or how many games he will play.

The compressed schedule makes each step of his progression important.

Ohtani does not have several weeks available for a gradual buildup. Once he advances to live pitching, the Dodgers will need to determine whether he has received enough competitive at-bats to resume his role at the top of the lineup.

Dodgers Want Ohtani to Find His Swing Before October

Before his physical issues became more noticeable, Ohtani was producing another MVP-caliber season.

He is batting .277 with a .380 on-base percentage, a .522 slugging percentage, 30 home runs and 80 RBIs across 130 games.

His performance declined during the weeks leading up to his injured-list placement. Ohtani hit .198 with a .690 OPS and 34 strikeouts over his final 24 games before going on the IL, a stretch that coincided with his attempt to increase his pitching workload.

The Dodgers ultimately decided that he needed to stop trying to contribute in both roles and focus exclusively on getting healthy as a hitter.

Ohtani is not expected to pitch again this season. His pitching program has been shelved until 2027.

That allows every part of his current rehabilitation work to be directed toward getting his bat ready for October.

Ohtani Still Has Steps to Complete

Friday’s session was more significant than another general expression of optimism.

Ohtani moved beyond stationary tee work, faced pitches from a coach and completed the activity without a negative response.

Now the difficulty must increase.

Live batting practice or Trajekt work will represent the closest simulation of the Major League pitching he will face once activated. How Ohtani performs and recovers from those sessions will help determine whether a Wednesday return is realistic.

Ohtani is moving in the right direction, but coach-pitch batting practice is another checkpoint—not the end of his rehabilitation.